


You Don't Have to be a High-Flyer

by Dancains



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: (I've seen this in some other fics and really dug the idea), Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Brief mentions of Lucius having one-sided feelings for Thomas Wayne, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mile High Club, Season 1/2 Ed Characterization, Set on a plane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:46:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancains/pseuds/Dancains
Summary: If someone had to sit next to him (or technically, one seat away) at least it was a good-looking stranger. Lucius had a sneaking suspicion he was going to be too distracted to really sleep, even if the man didn't chat Lucius' ear off like the well-meaning mother of three from Wisconsin he had sat next to on his flight out.





	You Don't Have to be a High-Flyer

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I can't believe this reached 4k words! I've really wanted to write a short foxma fic for a while, because there's not a whole lot out there (but what other authors have already written for this paring is phenomenal tbh) and they had such great/interesting on-screen chemistry in their episodes together. You could hypothetically read this as a sort of precursor to canon events, but in my head this was a complete AU, with no super heroes/villains (and Ed never kills anyone, haha). The title is from the Pet Shop Boys song "Did you see me coming?" which I think has a sweet electro-pop vibe that kind of fits this fic. Anyways, Enjoy!

Lucius closed his eyes and settled into his seat, hoping he might get at least a little sleep on his red-eye flight back to Gotham. For whatever reason, he always found it hard to sleep on airplanes, and the turbulence they would probably experience due to the recent bad weather certainly wouldn't help. 

 He let out a sigh, wishing he had bought that neck pillow he'd been eyeing in the airport gift shop. 

 "Would you mind if I sat here?"

 "Not at all," Lucius answered the request almost automatically, before opening his eyes to see the man settling into the aisle seat of his row. 

 It occurred to Lucius that this particular flight seemed to have been significantly under booked, that the man could have easily gotten a row to himself if he wanted, if he moved closer to the back of the plane; the flight was with one of the discount airlines where seats weren't assigned. 

 It would probably be rude to suggest that now, he mused. As the stranger straightened up after storing his backpack under the seat in front of him, Lucius finally got a glance at him. 

 Perhaps a few years younger than Lucius, with a sharp, lean face and thick framed glasses--the man flashed Lucius a bright, friendly grin. Lucius nodded back politely. 

 If someone had to sit next to him (or technically, one seat away) at least it was a good-looking stranger. Lucius had a sneaking suspicion he was going to be too distracted to really sleep, even if the man didn't chat Lucius' ear off like the well-meaning mother of three from Wisconsin he had sat next to on his flight out.

 Any small talk that the stranger might have tried to engage him in was preempted by the flight attendant reciting the same safety routine she must have given hundreds of times in the past. 

  _"...A life vest is located in a pouch under your seat or between the armrests. When instructed to do so, open the plastic pouch and remove the vest..."_

 The man with the glasses watched her intently as she demonstrated with a deflated orange life vest. Lucius tried to quell the passing thought that he had a nice profile. 

 Once she was finished, Lucius pulled a dog-eared crime fiction paperback from his messenger bag for the sake of something to do. The plane rumbled around them as it began to move down the runway, about to take off.

 As they ascended, he felt himself struggling to focus on the words in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he felt the stranger looking at him. His gaze was almost a tangible weight on Lucius' skin. After a few moments of this, he braved a glance in the man's direction. 

 When he caught his eye, Lucius awkwardly realized that the man hadn't been looking at him, but past him, out of the small window on Lucius' right. The glittering lights of Ft. Lauderdale stretched out beneath them in neat grids, tiny pin-points of light in the stormy, rain filled darkness. 

 "Did you want the window seat?" Lucius offered graciously, "I wouldn't mind getting up to swi-"

 "No, no, that's fine! Thank you, though...I had the window seat on my flight out." He paused, tongue darting out to wet his lips. "This is actually only the second time I've been on an airplane," the man added, mater-of-factly. 

 "That's rather exciting." Lucius couldn't remember the first time he had flown, probably when he was a young child. "Were you nervous at all?" he asked curiously, "It wouldn't be anything to be embarrassed by, of course. You'd be surprised by how many adult have anxieties about planes."

 "No, thankfully I wasn't. I found it very intriguing." The man looked at Lucius thoughtfully. "May I ask, are you a therapist?"

 "I'm not, though I'll admit that's not the first time someone's asked me that. I work in technology." He didn't fee like going into detail about his job at Wayne enterprises.

 "Oh. I'm in forensics, myself. That's actually why I was in Florida, for a conference."

 "Must have been interesting. I just flew down for a few days for my cousin's wedding."

 "It certainly was! It was particularly nice to see some of the authors of periodicals I read speaking in person, though, you probably had an objectively more pleasant weekend than I did...unless of course the best man suddenly launched into a lecture about the rate of corpse decay in warm weather climates." The man laughed at his own joke.

 Lucius chuckled despite himself at the strange turn in conversation. "Frankly, that might have made it more entertaining. Let's just say some of the speeches went on a little longer than I might have liked."

 "Ah." The stranger smiled at him conspiratorially. Lucius ignored the tender knot of nervousness in his stomach. 

 "Speaking of warm weather climates," Lucius continued, now feeling a desire to keep up the thread of conversation, "what did you think of the humidity? It's certainly a world away from Gotham."

 "You could say that again. Between you and me, my hair doesn't usually look like this." He gestured towards the mess of soft-looking, loose curls on the top of his head.

 "Huh, I wouldn't have guessed. It's not bad look on you."

 The man blinked in surprise, and Lucius wondered if his tone had come off as too forward, or even flirtatious. The words had just slipped from his mouth. Unexpectedly, the man glanced down to his feet and mumbled a shy thanks.

 Unsure of how to continue, Lucius was almost glad that they were interrupted by the flight attendant taking their drink order. He pulled the menu card out of the pouch in front of him and skimmed it briefly.

 "A cup of coffee, thank you," the man next to him ordered. 

"The coffee with Irish cream," Lucius says when the woman turns her head towards him.

"Ooh, on second thought, I'll have what he's having," his neighbor decided. 

 "Do you usually drink on planes?" he asked Lucius after she had left. 

 Lucius almost wasn't sure whether he was asking it as a personal question on one about people in general. He shrugged in response, "not usually, it just sounded nice. It's actually odd for me to be flying for a personal trip instead of work."

 The man nodded. Lucius could see his fingers gently tapping a pattern on his knee, an apparent nervous fidget. "I'm Ed, by the way."

 "Lucius. Lucius Fox." he reached across the empty seat shook Ed's hand cordially. He wasn't sure if he imagined their hands lingered for just a few seconds too long.

 "That's quite unique--an ancient Roman given name, derived from the latin prefix "lux," meaning light."

 "Someone knows a thing or two about linguistics..."

 Ed shrugged a shoulder.

 "...Most people just mention the evil blond guy from Harry Potter." Lucius continued. Ed giggled in response.

 They chatted for a while, Lucius wasn't sure how long, until the flight attendant returned pushing a cart ladened with beverages in short cups. 

 "Your coffees, sirs." She handed each of them a warm paper cup of coffee with a stir stick along with a cocktail napkin and a miniature plastic bottle of Bailey's.

 Ed studied the small bottle, "very fancy."

 Lucius held his out for a toast, "to your second time flying."

 Ed smiled, clinking the bottles together, before they both stirred some into the coffee. They sipped the warm drinks in comfortable silence. Lucius could hear the crackle of thunder far in the distance, somewhere under the hum of the plane. 

 He watched Ed's long fingers fidgeting with the napkin, before unfolding it on his tray table and refolding it, origami style, into a delicate swan. 

 "That's lovely. I wish I knew how to-" Lucius began to comment, but paused when the plane suddenly hit a bout of turbulence, shaking them both. He held his cup tightly in his hand, trying to desperately avoid spilling the hot beverage across his lap. When he looked out the window again he could see a flash of lightning in the distance.

 A static-tinged voice came over the intercom, reminding passengers to keep their seat belts fastened while seated.

 He and Ed glanced at each other, sharing almost comical grimaces at the poor timing. 

 "Now they tell us. At least I didn't spill any," said Lucius.

 "Mmh. Same here." He set his own cup down--dramatically slow and careful, purely to keep the dumb grin on Lucius' face. "What else do you usually do on your work flights, to distract yourself from the eminent natural disaster forming outside?"

 Lucius chuckled. " Well, for one, I usually take a crack at the crosswords in the in-flight magazine."

 "Oh! I love doing crosswords! I didn't think to look through that on the way out." Lucius couldn't help but find the unbridled joy that cross his face completely endearing.

 Ed pulled the magazine from the seat pocket in front of him and began to leaf through it. Lucius took out his own, only to realize the crosswords page has been ripped out, perhaps by someone who wanted to take it home to finish it.

 "Would you, um, like to work on this one together?" The request was oddly hesitant, considering how forthcoming Ed has seemed so far.

 "Sure," Lucius smiled at him, "I think I have a pen." As he dug through his bag, Ed unbuckled and scooted over into the seat closer to him. While he was sure it was just for the sake of ease, Lucius was slightly surprised none the less. 

 They ended up passing the pen back and forth, alternatively filling in random spots in the empty crosswords puzzle. Lucius wasn't the least bit surprised that Ed could come up with the esoteric answers in mere seconds, though he wasn't exactly a slouch himself when it came to word puzzles. 

 "Seventy across...stationary quantity...R-E-A-M," Lucius muttered under his breath as he filled in the short answer.

 "Very nice."

 "I'm still pondering this one," he tapped thirty-nine across with the tip of the pen, the spaces went across the entire puzzle lengthwise. " _Shenanigans at a photo shoot_...and it looks too long to be 'photobomb,' hmm..."

 Ed took the pen in his hand and carefully filled the squares with his neat, blocky print.

 " _Shutter nonsense,_ " Lucius read aloud.

 "It's a pun," Ed grinned. 

 Lucius broke out into quiet laughter at the absurdity of it. For whatever reason, it was the funniest thing he had heard in weeks. In turn, Ed's smile seemed to go from a hundred watts to a thousand.

 After a moment, they delved back into their newly formed routine, both eager to finish the puzzle. Lucius took a brief glance at his watch. He hadn't realized how quickly time had been passing, it would be less than a half hour until they would reach their destination. Oddly enough, he didn't want them to land. Instead of feeling claustrophobic, as he often did in crowded public places, he felt almost cozy, with the warmth of Ed's arm against his side, the slight brush of their knees when he leaned over to pencil an answer in to the crosswords. 

 He savored the faint hint of sweetness on his tongue from the Irish cream liquer, along with the patter of rain against the window--relaxing despite the violent storm brewing outside. 

 Ed's voice, barely above a murmur, stirred Lucius from his reverie, "your turn." 

 The words felt strangely hot against his ear. He passed Lucius the ballpoint pen, both of their hands lingering as Lucius turned his head, catching Ed's gaze. 

 Lucius hadn't noticed how dark his eyes were, pupils wide in the dim light. He hadn't realized how close they had been sitting, either. Later he would swear to himself that in that moment he felt something like electricity jolt between their fingers.

 Ed cleared his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. "Excuse me a moment. I think I'll, um, use the restroom before we land."

 Feigning interest in the crossword, Lucius watched him out of the corner of his eye, as Ed made his way towards the back of the plane. Brought to his full height he was even taller than Lucius had assumed. 

 Lucius gave up completely on self control once Ed was far enough away, and craned his neck to watch his retreating form over the seats behind him. He straightened in his own seat, clutching his fingers against his knees in an attempt at restraint.

  _Goddammit, Lucius,_ he thought to himself. 

 He was probably  _completely_ misreading the situation. Ed was undoubtedly just an overly friendly straight guy, who hadn't realized that his polite conversations with Lucius would be read as anything other than that. Still...something about his words had seemed particularly pointed as he had excused himself. 

  _And what straight guy wears pants that tight,_ a voice in the back of his head piped up, light and teasing.  _Shit._  The situation was totally out of Lucius' realm.

 It couldn't hurt to just get up and stretch, he reasoned, to use the restroom after Ed simply to splash some cold water on his face. He needed to stay awake--It was going to be 4 AM when they landed in Gotham, after all. 

 After a moment of indecision he got up from his seat, making his way in the same direction Ed had left. When he got to the back of the plane he waited in front of the closed door, noting that the small "occupied" sign was still lit. He glanced back at the main cabin he had walked through. The lights were low due to the late hour of the flight, and most people were sleeping. The only flight attendant that he could see was near the front of the cabin, talking to one of the passengers. 

 He nearly jolted out of his skin when the door suddenly unlatched and slid open, leaving him face to face with Ed.

 "I, uhm-" Lucius started, but he had absolutely no idea what to say. 

 Ed stared at him, eyes drifting down to his mouth. In what felt like a fraction of a second, he checked the cabin to see if anyone was looking, then buried his fingers in Lucius' dress shirt, pulling him just a few inches through the threshold of the small restroom. The click of the door behind them was almost deafening loud in the cramped space.

 Lucius kissed him tentatively, feeling equally thrilled and terrified. If there was a written list of things Lucius Fox  _did not do_ under any circumstances, the first was probably having a brief romantic and/or sexual encounter with someone on an public airplane lavatory.

 If that list existed, it would probably now have to be amended. 

 He could feel Ed moan against him, a deep stifled sound, as he deepened the kiss. They were pressed chest-to-chest in the small space, both by desire and necessity. Lucius clutched at Ed's upper arm, feeling more lean muscle there than he had expected under the thin fabric. 

 He could feel Ed's fingers on his cheek, tracing the edge of his goatee and the rough, day-old stubble at his jawline. He absent-mindedly wondered if Ed had ever kissed a man before. If he hadn't, then any lack of experience certainly didn't hinder his enthusiasm. He was pleasantly surprised when he felt Ed's tongue push in between his own lips, exploring his mouth. His fingers tightened in Ed's hair.

 Ed's legs were spread awkwardly in attempt to stand without his head hitting the ceiling, his back to the wall mirror. He was practically sitting in the small sink. Lucius pushed in closer,situating himself in between Ed's long legs. He pulled at his thigh, daringly pressing their hips together; they were both half-hard now but Ed was certainly farther along. Ed made a stuttering, gasping noise against his mouth as Lucius tentatively brought a hand between them, mapping out the outline of Ed's strained cock in his jeans. 

 They broke apart just slightly, enough for Lucius to get a good look at his face.

 "Is this oka-"

  _"Ye-esss,"_ Ed practically hissed, nodding his head frantically. Lucius touched him again, more firmly, and watched Ed bite his lip in a half-hearted attempt to stifle the noises he was making. Lucius thought to himself that he'd probably have that image and that sound ingrained in his memory for as long as he lives. 

 Ed kissed him again, slightly sloppy and desperate. "I haven't really done much of this before. And n-not with a guy," he told Lucius in an embarrassed whisper.

 "That's okay," Lucius murmured back reassuringly. He's had two serious, long-term boyfriends in his past, but nothing as brief as even a one-night stand. Beyond that, he's not usually the one to initiate things in relationships, but he realized he might need to now. Ed leaned into his touch, grinding his thigh against Lucius' own erection. Lucius exhaled heavily.

 He held Ed's gaze as he started to unbutton his pants, and paused. 

 "How's about I get you off then you get me off, like this? Is that alright?"

 "Yes. Yes, please yes." 

Lucius kissed him, almost chastely, as he undid Ed's fly and pulled him out of his boxers. Whether or not Ed gasped because of the cold air or the warm hand on his cock was anybody's guess. 

 Lucius pumped him gently, wishing he had something slick to lubricate his hand just slightly. By the feel of Ed, of it probably wouldn't matter for much longer. He kissed up the line of Ed's perfect, slim neck to his jaw, tongue flicking the prominent indent of his chin, simultaneously toying with the head of Ed's cock with his thumb. He's could only half-listen to the constant muttered stream of "Yes-please-please-please-like that-unh- _Lucius_ " being whispered in his ear; it was all too much to take in. 

 Ed's fingers suddenly tightened at his shoulders. "I'm  _really_ close," he hissed through gritted teeth. 

 Lucius used his free hand to hurriedly grab a handful of paper towels from the dispenser behind Ed a few seconds before he starts coming in Lucius' hand. Ed shuddered, gasping for breath. Luckily more of his had gotten on Lucius' hand and the paper towels than his pants.

 Ed shuffled out of the way as Lucius very quickly shoved the paper towels in the trash bin built into the sink and washed his hands. Once he had turned around Ed began to unbuckle his belt. 

 Lucius let's out a shaky "God, yes."

 "Been a while?" Ed ventured, voice practically hoarse. 

 "Mmh, you could say that." As Ed's deft fingers wrap around the base of his cock Lucius tries not to think of all the people sitting in the plane outside, of how long they've been in the restroom. What was probably a few brief minutes felt like an eternity. It felt deliciously reckless. Since when did he get turned on by things like this?

 Maybe it was all those sleepy summer afternoons when he first started working at Wayne enterprises, when he would fantasize about Thomas Wayne inviting Lucius into his office, showing him how much of an appreciated employee he was behind closed doors. Until Lucius realized how ridiculous and absurd his fantasies were, and willed himself to purge them from his imagination. Maybe this was the culmination of all that pent up energy and unrequited desire. 

 Or maybe he had simply met an intelligent, handsome, and awkwardly sweet man on a plane, who was currently giving him the most memorable hand job of his life.

 The plane hit another rough patch of turbulence, vibrating around them as he thrust into Ed's hand, finally coming in his grasp. He could feel it coming across him in waves, almost electric, like someone had pulled a switch and something about him had inherently changed. For the better or the worse, he had no idea. 

 For a few seconds, all he and Ed could do was stare at each other, both satisfied and dazed in equal measure, breathing puffs of hot air in the small space between their mouths. 

 Almost reluctantly, Ed carefully cleaned Lucius off before tucking him neatly back into his slacks, then hastily washing his hands in the sink. He straightened his own shirt before pressing an errant kiss to the corner of Lucius' mouth and exiting the restroom before Lucius could react. 

 Lucius locked the door behind him instinctively, knowing that he should wait at least a moment before coming out, as to not draw attention to himself--If they hadn't already.

 He turned to the mirror on the wall and studied his own reflection, letting out a deep breath. He didn't look any different than he had before he had gotten on to the plane, maybe with the exception of the bead of sweat on his forehead and the now shiny, kiss-slicked wetness of his lips. He ran the water from the faucet as cold as it would go and splashed some on his face. After he dried it, he checked his appearance one last before stepping through the door.

 The moment he did the plane began to bounce violently. He held onto the door frame to keep himself from falling.

 "Sir, we're coming in for a landing and we're about to hit some serious turbulence. Please sit down in the nearest seat and fasten your seat belt," a flight attendant told him as she approached. Her voice was tinged with barely stifled annoyance, but luckily nothing like suspicion. 

 All Lucius could do was nod curtly and sit himself down in the nearest seat, one in the empty row near the restroom. He wondered what Ed would think, when he didn't return to his earlier seat. What was the usual etiquette anyway, for mutual hand jobs on a deliriously tired red-eye flight that might as well have crashed down in the middle of downtown Gotham? 

 He closed his eyes, leaning back into the uncomfortable plane seat like he had just hours ago. Now was when he should have felt some sort of wave of regret for what he had just did, but instead he only felt content. 

 Once the plane had finally landed and people began to disembark, the stretch of aisle between Lucius and where he and Ed had been sitting earlier was crammed with people, taking their sweet time to collect their luggage from the overhead compartments and inch forward towards the exit. Lucius stood on his tip toes, craning to get a look towards the front of the plane. 

 He just barely saw Ed, bag in hand, nodding politely to a flight attendant before stepping off the plane.

 When the family of five that had been blocking up the aisle in front of him finally cleared out of the way, Lucius made his way back to his original seat and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.

 As he made the short, familiar trip through the jet bridge and down a single escalator to the baggage claim area, he hoped in equal measure that he would see Ed again and that he would also be spared the potential awkwardness of that exact situation. Still, he scanned the crowd forming around the conveyor belt, unsure of how he felt when he didn't see the Ed's lean figure among it.

 He watched suitcase after suitcase circle the conveyor belt before he pulled his sole piece of checked luggage off of it and left through the sliding door to hail a taxi. 

 The taxi driver wasn't particularly talkative, and Lucius was grateful for the fact. Despite how cold it was outside his face still felt impossibly warm, and he laid his cheek on the cool glass of the window, suddenly feeling emotionally drained. He would only have a few hours at home to sleep before he planned to come into work around ten. He suspected that later that day the only thing he'd be able to see out of his office window would be thick, gray fog.

 Remembering work, he fished through his bag looking for his phone. He might as well switch it off of airplane mode and skim through all of the work e-mails he had willed himself to ignore over his three day vacation. 

 Reaching in the inner pocket, his fingers brushed against something unfamiliar. He pulled it out. The napkin was slightly crumpled but still recognizably held the shape of a swan. He swallowed dryly, rubbing at his tired eyes, as if this was something he was only imagining. 

 Then he noticed that there were seven smudged, but still legible, digits written on its wing. 

 Lucius cradled the paper swan in his hands as if it were as delicate as glass. When the taxi arrived at his apartment block, the first few rays of the sunrise shone through the thick clouds.

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally going to end this on a sad/bittersweet conclusion but then at the last minute I decided to give them a little glimmer of hope...Thanks for reading!


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